Georgetown & Alexandria Ramble
Two colonial cities, one on either side of the Potomac, anchor the Washington D.C. region, Georgetown and Alexandria, Virginia.
Join me on a full-day ramble to these two fascinating places, both founded in the mid-18th century as tobacco ports, each playing an important role in American history.
I’ll pick you up at your Washington D.C.-area hotel or an agreed meeting spot, and we’ll begin with a walking tour of Georgetown’s Historic District. First is the Old Stone House, the oldest building in city limits. Next, we continue to several sites associated with “the Georgetown Set,” a group of academics, journalists, and bureaucrats, who shaped U.S. policy in the Cold War (including several houses associated with the set’s most famous member, John F. Kennedy).
Stories of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, lifeblood of Georgetown’s economy for nearly a century, will follow. We will note colonial mansions, a warehouse where data processing was inventing and the city’s oldest jazz club. The tour culminates at Georgetown University, America’s oldest Catholic college, the training ground of numerous diplomats and government officials.
Next, we head for lunch at Martin’s Tavern, D.C.’s oldest family-owned restaurant. Opened on the day Prohibition ended in 1933, the tavern has hosted LBJ’s lessons in the ways of Congress, planning meetings for the Brown vs. Board decision, and Jack Kennedy’s proposal to Jackie.
We continue across the Potomac to Alexandria, a city laid out in 1749 by a promising young surveyor, George Washington. We will visit numerous sites associated with his life: his townhouse, Gadsby’s Tavern, which honored him with a Birthnight Ball, his church, and the meeting house where his funeral was held. We’ll stop by the homes of numerous other influential figures of the colonial period and the early days of the republic and visit the Tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary War Soldier.
Alexandria’s story is also deeply shaped by the Civil War, and I’ll show you where a skirmish that resulted in the death of the Union’s first martyr-hero broke out just days after Fort Sumter, as federal troops seized the city. Stories from the hospitals and warehouses that soon filled the town will follow, and I’ll point out some sites associated with Confederate General Robert E. Lee, who spent much of his life in and around Alexandria.
If desired, most days of the week we can close our ramble with a guided tour of Alexandria’s George Washington Masonic Memorial, a building inspired by the Pharos, the fabled lighthouse of ancient Alexandria that was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The site is unique monument to our first president, constructed by his fellow Freemasons, and includes grand murals of scenes from his life, as well as a series of Washington relics, including a lock of his hair, and the clock stopped at the moment of his death.
I can also arrange a 45-minute Potomac River cruise between Georgetown and Alexandria as an alternative to the George Washington Masonic National Memorial. It’s the perfect way to see the city’s grand monuments. Please indicate your interest in a Potomac River cruise when booking. A 10:00 tour start is best for this option.
The best time to begin this seven-hour tour is 9:00, but we can be flexible about scheduling. Ticket cost includes admission to all sites. Contact me directly to schedule groups larger than seven.
The George Washington Masonic Memorial is closed on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Federal holidays.
